After receiving his certificate of chef training in 1988 James worked in several restaurants in the Pasadena area. Relocating to Carson City Nevada in the early 90’s, James continued working in the food service industry at the same time enrolling in Western Nevada Community College to earn his Associates degree in general studies.

In January of 1995 James found himself relocating to Tucson Arizona. Within six months James was enrolled in Pima Community College on course to transfer to the University of Arizona.  James graduated from the University of Arizona in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences Education. After graduating, James began teaching at Marana High School in Marana Arizona.

During his Eleven years at Marana High School, James taught introduction to culinary arts, advanced applied culinary principals, communications, physical education, and Nutrition. James currently holds Arizona teaching certifications in Secondary Education in Family Consumer Sciences (FACS Ed), Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Structured English Immersion (SEI).

Somewhere along the way, James met and married his best friend, Heather. Together they raised three children, all grown now. They are also the proud Grand parents to two grandsons, Damian and Milo and one grand daughter, Rosemarie.

After leaving public education in 2012, James returned to the Food service industry as Food service Director for assisted living facilities. After becoming a Licensed Facility Administrator, and running opperations for a large facility, James decided the Kitchen is where he needed to be. In 2017 James and his wife Heather opened their own place, The Atomic Frog, Ice cream Parlor and Café’. After only two short years James fell and fractured his spine and was unable to meet the physical commitment of operating the Atomic Frog.

With a great deal of heartache, James and Heather Decided to Close the Frog for good. James then started to focus full time on CES, this was a natural direction since from an early age James has always loved teaching.

Focusing on his passion for educating others, James concentrated on becoming a Food Safety and Sanitation expert. Along the way, working with the National Restaurant Association (NRA®) and the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals (NRFSP®), as a content expert, James sat on Committees for both organizations reviewing, updating, editing and writing exam questions (test items) for National certification exams.

James continues to stay current on Food Safety / Sanitation through constant research and training.